Safety device for brake beams of railway cars



Feb. 20, 1934. w c ED SAFETY DEVICE FOR BRAKE BEAMS 0F RAILWAY CARS Flled Sept 22, 1932 Patented Feb. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Webster Cleveland Reed, Little Rock, Ark.

Application September 22, 1932 Serial No. 634,397

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a safety device for brake beams of railway cars, the general object of the invention being to provide members made of spring steel so supported that they will extend under the brake beams of a railway truck and thus catch and support the beams if they should drop from the truck which may cause the car to be de-railed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a casting to support a pair of the safety bars so that one bar can be easily and quickly removed whenever desired or necessary without touching the other bar, thus reducing repair bills.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:-

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing the invention in use with the truck shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

As shown in these views, I provide a pair of castings 1 on the sand board 2 of the truck of a railroad vehicle, each casting being of substantially channel-shape in cross section with a rounded rib 3 adjacent each end thereof, and with an upwardly and inwardly extending flange 4 extending across the channel in rear of each rib. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, each casting is provided with ears which are riveted or otherwise fastened to the sand boards. Each safety bar is shown at 5 and has its inner end formed with an upwardly extending hook 6 engaging the flange 4 and with its arcuate-shaped part 7 fitting over the rib 3. The projecting end of each safety bar slopes downwardly and outwardly as shown at 8 and terminates in a horizontal part 9 which extends under the brake beam 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A bolt or pin 11 passes through holes formed in the flanges of the channel casting 1 adjacent each end thereof and this pin is held in place by a cotter pin 12 or the like.

Thus it will be seen that if the brake beam should become loosened from its supporting means, it will be caught and held by the pair of safety bars 5 which extend under the same. The bar can be easily and quickly removed from the casting without removing the other bar of the casting, as it is simply necessary to remove the pin 11 and then lift the bar from out of the casting. The rib 3 prevents longitudinal movement of the bar and the hook 6 engages the flange 4 to lock the inner end of the bar to the casting.

From the foregoing it will be seen that each casting carries two safety bars and either bar is easily removed from the casting without disturbing the other bar. Thus if a part of one bar should become broken, this bar can be replaced without touching the other bar, so that material, time and labor are saved.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new is:-

1. A safety device for the brake beams of a railroadtruck comprising a casting of channel shape and having a rib adjacent each end thereof and an upwardly and inwardly extending flanged space inwardly from each rib, a pair of safety bars each having a hook at its inner end for fitting over a flange, and a recess intermediate its ends for receiving the rib, each bar extending beyond an end of the channel member for supporting the brake beam, and a pin passing through each end of the channel member and passing over a part of each safety bar.

2. A safety device for the brake beams of a railroad truck comprising a channel shaped member supported by a part of the truck, an upwardly and inwardly extending flange located in the channel shaped member, a safety bar having a hook at its inner end for fitting over the flange and a pin passing through an end portion of the channel member and over a part of the safety bar to hold said bar in the channel member.

WEBSTER CLEVELAND REED. 

